Personal Narrative: My Experience Of Volunteer Service

My first week proved to be very challenging. My favorite uncle was a veteran and I often visited him at the Missouri Veterans Home nursing center. He died several years ago, however, I remembered seeing many older veterans who did not have anyone to visit them. Many were very lonely and longed-for visitors. I had decided volunteering with the Veterans Administration Medical Center Jefferson Barracks Division would be something that I would really enjoy. I researched how to volunteer with the Veterans Administration online and found that for those who wished to volunteer process included a minimum of 100 hours of service, fingerprinting for a background investigation, an in-house orientation, and obtaining a V.A. identification badge. I was excited, so I went to Jefferson Barracks the very next day. After getting lost a couple of times in the buildings, I finally found the right department. Unfortunately, I was told that the person who handled volunteer services had just gone to lunch and would be back in one hour. I started to leave but decided to stay instead. After one hour and fifteen minutes, the person in charge of volunteers finally made it back to the office. I was greeted by a very friendly young lady that explained to me that she was filling in for the person who made the official

I left home at 8 30 a.m. to pick up Mr. J. He was a 69 year old retired mechanic. He told me that he had over 40 years’ experience at repairing vehicles. However, he had become disabled after a car fell on him while working. He had several surgeries but never fully recovered from the accident. Although he was finally able to get disability, the process was long and arduous. Mr. J. used all his savings during the wait for approval for disability. He tried to work with his bank to refinance his loans, but was not successful. As a result, he lost his home to foreclosure, his car was repossessed and his wife filed for